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In many situations, e.g. sports injuries, three-dimensional kinematics cannot be obtained with traditional lab methods. However, if methods for reconstructing motion patterns from video sequences were available, our understanding of injury mechanisms could be improved. The aim of this study was to assess the accuracy of a new model-based image-matching technique for human motion reconstruction from one or more uncalibrated video sequences, using traditional motion analysis as a gold standard. A laboratory trial was conducted with one test subject performing jogging and side step cutting, while being filmed with three ordinary video cameras. This provided three single camera matchings, three double camera matchings and one triple camera matching for each of the motions. The test subject wore 33 reflective skin markers and was filmed with a seven-camera, 240 Hz motion analysis system. Root mean square (RMS) hip and knee flexion/extension angle differences were less than 12 degrees for all the matchings. Estimates for ad-/abduction (

Ankle sprains are common during sporting activities and can have serious consequences. Understanding of injury mechanisms is essential to prevent injuries, but only two previous studies have provided detailed descriptions of the kinematics of lateral ankle sprains and measures of kinetics are missing. In the present study a female handball player accidentally sprained her ankle during sidestep cutting in a motion analysis laboratory. Kinematics and kinetics were calculated from 240 Hz recordings with a full-body marker setup. The injury trial was compared with two previous (non-injury) trials. The injury trial showed a sudden increase in inversion and internal rotation that peaked between 130 and 180 ms after initial contact. We observed an attempted unloading of the foot from 80 ms after initial contact. As the inversion and internal rotation progressed, the loads were likely to exceed injury threshold between 130 and 180 ms. There was a considerable amount of dorsiflexion in the injury trial compared to neutral flexion in the control trials, similar to the previously published kinematical descriptions of lateral ankle sprains. The present study also adds valuable kinetic information that improves understanding of the injury mechanism.

Joint moments help us understand joint loading and muscle function during movement. However, the interpretation depends on the choice of reference frame, but the different reference frames have not been compared in dynamic, high-impact sporting movements. We have compared the magnitude and the resulting ranking of hip and knee joint moments expressed in the laboratory coordinate system, the local system of the distal segment and projected or decomposed to the Joint Coordinate System (JCS) axes. Hip and knee joint moments of drop jumps and sidestep cutting in 70 elite female handball players were calculated based on recordings from an eight-camera 240 Hz system and two force platforms and expressed with the four methods. The greatest variations in magnitude between conditions were seen for drop jump hip internal rotation (range: 0.31–0.71 Nm/kg) and sidestep cutting knee flexion (2.87–3.39 Nm/kg) and hip internal rotation (0.87–2.36 Nm/kg) and knee internal rotation (0.10–0.40 Nm/kg) moments. The rank correlations were highest between conditions for flexion moments (0.88–1.00) and sidestep cutting abduction moments (0.71–0.98). The rank correlations ranged from 0.64 to 0.73 for drop jump knee abduction moments and between −0.17 and 0.67 for hip and knee internal rotation moments. Expression of joint moments in different reference systems affects the magnitude and ranking of athletes. This lack of consistency may complicate the comparison and combination of results. Projection to the JCS is the only method where joint moments correspond to muscle and ligament loading. More widespread adoption of this convention could facilitate comparison of studies and ease the interpretation of results.